Go west (London) for the UK's best charity fundraisers

24 August 2010

And Tonbridge, Aberdeen, Chelmsford and South West London also do well, says Virgin Money Giving

West London is the charity fundraising capital of the UK, analysis from not-for-profit online fundraising service Virgin Money Giving shows.

Fundraisers in West London raised an average of £1,260 for good causes putting them way ahead of the nearest contenders in Tonbridge, Kent, who raised an average £922 per event, analysis of donations through the site for the past nine months reveals.

Other fundraising hotspots across the UK revealed by Virgin Money Giving were South West London and Chelmsford in Essex which tied on £800 and Aberdeen where fundraisers managed £791.

Virgin Money Giving, the not-for-profit online fundraising site researched the top 50 regions for fundraiser activity.

Examining the data by region, London came top with £833 while North Scotland made it into second place with average amounts raised reaching £707.

Top 50 fundraising towns

Postal Town

Average Amount Raised

1

West London

£1,260

2

Tonbridge

£922

3

South West London

£829

4

Chelmsford

£816

5

Aberdeen

£791

6

North West London

£787

7

Stevenage

£757

8

North London

£704

9

Milton Keynes

£691

10

Inverness

£683

11

East London

£655

12

Dartford

£643

13

Enfield

£642

14

St Albans

£637

15

South East London

£630

16

Watford

£626

17

Isle of Man

£619

18

Kingston upon Thames

£615

19

Sutton

£614

20

Tonbridge (South)

£612

21

Bath

£611

22

Peterborough

£609

23

Bromley

£605

24

Guildford

£588

25

Ilford

£580

26

Twickenham

£571

27

Croyden

£566

28

Shrewsbury

£560

29

Lancaster

£553

30

West Central London

£525

31

Motherwell

£523

32

Reading

£522

33

Guernsey

£518

34

Harrow

£513

35

Redhill

£506

36

Chelmsford

£504

37

City of London

£493

38

Colchester

£487

39

Stevenage

£486

40

Leeds

£485

41

Ipswich

£485

42

Southend on Sea

£485

43

Kirkcaldy

£476

44

Slough

£472

45

Gloucester

£469

46

Cambridge

£467

47

Nottingham

£467

48

Bournemouth

£456

49

Jersey

£455

50

Chester

£454

Breaking down donations within the capital, fundraisers in West London raised the most, averaging £1,260 while those in the City of London came bottom of the capital rankings, raising £493.

Grant Bather, spokesman at Virgin Money Giving, said: "Fundraising is essential to many charities' existence and it is good to see that so many people are committed to raising money.

"London, with over six million people, and as host city to the largest annual fundraising event in the world – the Virgin London Marathon - understandably fared well but other large cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds saw average money raised in the £200-£400 bracket.

"However much fundraisers manage to raise, by using Virgin Money Giving, more money can reach the charity."

Virgin Money Giving has over 30,000 fundraisers registered, and has seen over £17 million raised since its launch in October 2009.

- ENDS -

For further information

Grant Bather
Virgin Money
Tel: 07834 844 427

Kevan Reilly / Chris Jarvis
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Tel: 0207 638 9571

About Virgin Money Giving:

Virgin Money Giving is the not-for-profit online fundraising arm of Virgin Money and was established in 2009. Virgin Money uses its infrastructure and expertise as a financial services business to ensure that Virgin Money Giving is efficient, secure and offers a high quality service to all fundraisers, charities and donors.

Virginmoneygiving.com, which is backed by hundreds of major charities, officially opened to all fundraisers for all charity events on 14 October 2009 and estimates it will deliver an extra £5 million on top of every £100 million raised for charities.

Virginmoneygiving.com is free for fundraisers, charges a flat £100 + VAT registration fee for charities and a 2% fee on all donations before Gift Aid which means for every £10 raised, charities receive £12.46.

Virgin Money Giving charges charities the minimum fees needed to cover the running costs of the site. Any money left over after covering operating costs will go towards reducing fees further or improving services for fundraisers and charities.

Fundraisers can personalise their pages, send out email alerts and manage the different events they might be taking part in. They can include their own content, photos and links to their page as well as customise messages for their supporters. Fundraisers can also link their page to social networking sites.

Virginmoneygiving.com is the official sponsorship website of the Virgin London Marathon, Royal Parks Half Marathon and ‘Run to the Beat’.